The Bookery Nook, an independent bookstore and ice cream parlor, is closing

After more than three years of selling books, local goods and ice cream, the Bookery Nook is closing its doors August 31. "Three factors played into that," says Bookery Nook owner Shannon Piserchio. "The economy -- definitely; book sales have dropped significantly because of e-books; and then the construction project that took place last year. It really, really impacted a lot of us on [Tennyson] street. And even though it's done now, we haven't seen a return. We're down even from last year when the construction was going on."

Last year, Piserchio decided to add an ice cream parlor to the business. She chose Liks because it was local and family-owned. The hope was that it would help the business by bringing in costumers with a sweet tooth during the summer. "It did last summer, but for some reason it just went down this summer. We're not seeing volume," Piserchio says.

But the culture of buying at big chain stores also played a part, Piserchio says. "In [the public's] minds, they're saving money by going to Walmart or Target. They may be, but they're also not investing in the community. They're not putting those dollars back in to supporting jobs and infrastructure and everything that goes along with building and supporting a viable community."

For Piserchio, this will probably be the last effort to own a brick-and-mortar business, but she hopes the next generation will have better luck. "We put everything we had into it, absolutely everything. But we've got nothing left," she says. " I'm hopeful with the new, younger generation that they will be more in tune with how economics work."